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Adventure abounds in this intricate and multi-layered novel set in and outside of Cairo. The fabled Egyptian city comes alive and houses a cadre of calculating characters pursuing multiple agendas that lead to deception and death. Before the last page is turned, readers are swept along in a tide of scientific pursuit, geopolitical machinations, historical religious encounters, and good old-fashioned slam-bang action.
Trevy is a young American teaching in Egypt as she pursues her theories of the interconnectedness of astronomical and archeological connections to some of the country’s most iconic historical sites. One day she witnesses a man falling to his death and being impaled. It turns out his fall was not an accident. The bullet hole in his head is a dead giveaway. Soon Trevy is in danger herself—mortal danger as multiple attempts are made on her life. The action bounces back and forth between Cairo’s teeming city streets and a remote location deep in the desert where a mysterious tomb has been found that may house historic revelations, miracle cures, hidden villainy, and even more opportunities to shuffle off this mortal coil.
O’Keefe is a confident author skilled at blending theoretical concepts with historical events to create interesting and credible scenarios and motivations. This ability keeps her plot stirred intellectually as she adeptly adds spices of suspense and danger. Her character development is both sharp and inclusive. Trevy, her heroine, is self-assured and capable but still vulnerable and human. Supporting players of various nationalities reflect their country’s characteristics without being stereotypical. And while all her narrative loose ends are tied up nicely before novel’s end, there’s still a late surprise or two that readers won’t see coming.